Ziggy's to showcase ‘something different every night'

Published: Friday, July 5, 2013 at 9:12 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 5, 2013 at 9:12 a.m.

There was work going on in what seemed like every nook and cranny of 208 Market St. on Tuesday afternoon as the final preparations were made for the grand opening of downtown Wilmington's newest music venue, Ziggy's By the Sea, scheduled for July 3 with North Carolina reggae band Selah Dubb.

Co-owner Charles Womack joked that "we've been in here 28 hours a day" trying to get ready as he stood on newly redone floors and oversaw the installation of a brand-new sound system with fellow co-owner Jay Stephens.

"It was a dump when we walked in here," Stephens said. "We basically just shined it up."

No major structural changes have been made to the historic space – yet – but Womack said he'd like to eventually lower the balcony railings to improve sight lines, find a permanent, less obtrusive home for the sound booth and convert an old DJ booth by the stage into a VIP room or rooms.

"Obviously, we're pushing it up to the last minute to get open," Womack said. "I would've preferred to wait until Delbert McClinton (plays on July 26 to open), but we didn't want to miss this weekend."

In addition to the opening night reggae concert, 10 other shows have already been booked for July, with more planned.

Most recently known as The Brikhouse, which hosted a sporadic roster of acts, the space hosted dance clubs Rox and Hammerjax in recent years. It was another music club, Jacob's Run, in the 1990s, and in the 1970s and before was a movie theater, The Manor.

"The clientele we're trying to draw hasn't been in here in four or five years," Stephens said. "I think they'll be shocked when they see it."

Stephens and Womack said their philosophy of booking shows at Ziggy's by the Sea will be the same as at their club Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, whose motto is "roots, rock, reggae."

"You figure you service each (genre) several times per month," Stephens said.

The club, which has a total capacity of 745, will be open seven nights a week, with only an upstairs lounge in use when the main stage isn't occupied.

Stephens said local bands will be part of the equation – "We're going to work real close with local acts; we love local acts" – and Womack said they'll also be working with Wilmington's Progressive Music Group, which books shows at various venues locally and throughout the Southeast.

Ziggy's by the Sea may have picked a fortuitous time to open. A venue that would have presumably been a major competitor, the Soapbox, is set to close its doors by the end of July, although owner Brent Watkins has hinted that it might re-open elsewhere.

Stephens has been down the Ziggy's By the Sea road before. He owned another club of the same name in Atlantic Beach; it closed in 2005. He sold the building that housed the original Ziggy's, which opened in 1978, to Wake Forest University in 2007. Stephens bought Ziggy's in 1990.

Stephens got the itch to return to the music hall biz in 2011, which he did when he and Womack, a publisher of the Triad's Yes! Weekly, brought Ziggy's back to life in a new building.

Stephens has history booking shows in Wilmington – outdoors on the grounds of Wilmington International Airport in the 1990s, and more recently on the Water Street parking deck downtown – and calls Charlie Maultsby, the proprietor of late, lamented Wilmington music venue The Mad Monk, his mentor.